ll he had ask'd leave; and that still, to
shew his good Will, as soon as he had gotten leave, he hurried them all
into the Sea and choak'd them; these, I say, are some of the Reasons why
I am not willing to say, the _Devil_ is not restrain'd in Power; but on
the other side, we are told of so many mischievous things the Devil has
done in the World, by virtue of his Dominion over the Elements, and by
other Testimonies of his Power, that I don't know what to think of it;
tho', upon the whole, the first is the safest Opinion; for if we should
believe the last, we might, for ought I know, be brought, like the
_American Indians_, to worship him _at last_, that he may do us no Harm.

And now I have nam'd those People in _America_, I confess it would go a
great way in favour of Satan's Generosity, as well as in Testimony of
his Power, if we might believe all the Accounts, which indeed Authors
are pretty well agreed in the Truth of, namely, of the Mischiefs the
_Devil_ does in those Countries, where his Dominion seems to be
establish'd; how he uses them when they deny him the Homage he claims of
them as his Due; what Havock and Combustion he makes among them; and
how Beneficent he is (or at least negative in his Mischiefs) when they
Appease him by their hellish Sacrifices.

Likewise we see a Test of his wicked Subtilty in his Management of those
dark Nations, when he was more immediately worship'd by them; namely,
the making them believe that all their good Weather, Rains, Dews, and
kind Influences upon the Earth, to make it fruitful, was from Him;
whereas they really were the common Blessings of a higher Hand, and came
not from him, the _Devil_, but from him that made the _Devil_, and made
him a Devil or fallen Angel by his Curse.

But to go back to the Method the Devil took with the first of Mankind;
'tis plain the Policy of Hell was right, tho' the Execution of the
Resolves they took did not fully answer their End neither; For _Satan_
fastening upon poor, proud, ridiculous Mother _Eve_, as I have said
before, made presently a true Judgment of her Capacities, and of her
Temper; took her by the right Handle, and soothing her Vanity (which is
to this Day the softest Place in the Head of all the Sex) wheedl'd her
out of her Senses, by praising her Beauty, and promising to make her a
Goddess.

The foolish Woman yielded presently, and that we are told is the Reason
why the same Method so strangely takes with all her Posterity (_